A desert world dotted with twisted rock pillars and shanty towns, Gorrleth was where the Hithe's creators dumped them. It contains a small population, as the discovery of ships below the surface has caused the majority of the species to leave.

Size:

Population-wise the Hithe are very small on even a planetary scale, essentially having started out as an army of approximately 1 million at the time of their creation. While this number has bloated into over 5 billion, the Hithe have no territory aside from Gorrleth and a few other systems, mostly being a space-faring nomadic race.

Biology:

The average Hithe is approximately 10 feet tall, well muscled with a thick, tan coloured hide. This skin is tough and inorganic looking, with uniform seams that appear to be molded in. The multiple layers act like a space suit, keeping pressure constant, temperatures in the internal organs at safe levels and absorbing radiation. The skin can also be shed to prevent radiation poisoning or infection, a second thinner skin quickly developing underneath. On the chest, knees and neck the Hithe have small, circular markings that seem to have no purpose.

The Hithe head is vaguely shark-like with a pointed, shovel-like snout. The chin is well developed also and sticks out, giving the side profile an inverse ax shape. The Hithe have 4 eyes, each independent of each other and protected by an enlarged cornea. The large broad teeth are unusual in that they are perfectly regular, each a picket fence shape that locks into its neighbours to create a pressure seal. The lips are jagged and lock in a similar way as well.

Hithe are carnivorous and voratious, unpicky eaters. It is common for cannibalism and devouring the corpses of enemies to occur amongst populations. Their strong stomach acid and high internal body temperature prevents them getting sick from eating rotted meat. The Hithe's powerful metabolisms mean they must eat often to sutain their functionality.

Hithe are digitigrade with 5 fingers and 5 toes. Their arms are unusually long compared to their legs, allowing them to move at speed on either 2 legs or 4. They have opposable thumbs as well as opposable big toes, both of which have a strong enough grip to support their weight. The palms of these hands and feet have hundreds of tiny claw-like scales and bristles which allow them to climb up walls and ceilings unassisted.

A specialised organ in the back of the throat secrets a sticky resin that has multiple uses. This resin hardens when not in the presence of Hithe saliva and can be used in multiple ways. The resin is black when fluid and dries clear. When ill a Hithe will sometimes drool this resin as they are no longer able to control the organ's generation of the substance.

The Hithe's second lung has been specialised as a large air bladder, allowing them to survive without breathing for up to 30 minutes. To compensate for the lack of a true second lung, the Hithe have a powerful diaphram and heart to better circulate air. The heart in particular is about the size of a large domestic cat.

The majority of organs are held behind a thick, shield-like ribcage, with only the intestines lying in the abdomen behind a dense pack of muscle to assist with upper body strength. The stragest thing however is that Hithe also lack true brains, their nervous system instead being spread out across their body in a form of neural web. This system still has a hub in the form of the spinal cord but only higher thought requires its use. Losing limbs can be pricy however as if enough damage is done it has the same effect as lobotomising them.

Hithe are not very intelligent. Thanks to the extensive hard-wiring of their psyche, unnecessary thought processes have been dampened and certain cognitive functions heightened. Hithe therefore instinctively know how to fight and can quickly learn to operate all manner of machinery and weapons. Other changes include absolute loyalty to those they believe to be stronger (though this is a double-edged blade for those in charge, one slip up and the Hithe disobey) and the release of endorphins during acts of violence. Killing and looting is what makes a Hithe happy, if not ecstatic.

Hithe lack reproductive organs, therefore having no true genders and none of the urges that come with such organs. Most are given male pronouns by outsiders thanks to their over-the-top macho personalities. This stuck enough that now every Hithe is effectively a "he".

Hithe instead reproduce through discarded body parts (similar to starfish). Thanks to the Neural Web, any separated body part of a Hithe can be grown into a new individual if given enough nutrition. This is usually found in the large pods that take up the breeding chambers in Hithe ships. Without the supervision and maintenance of their original creators however, the unstable Hithe genetic blueprint can cause many mutations. Many newborn Hithe do not survive very long due to tumors or missing important organs.

The survivable mutations take many forms, the most consistant being body shape variations. Hithe can be short and stocky, tall and lanky, have mismatched arm lengths, missing limbs, stunted growth, etc. The Hithe don't care as long as the freshies can hold a gun and shoot things without puking up their intestines.

Hithe blood is a dark purple (thanks to an abundance of hemerythrin in it) and smells absolutely rancid. It clots incredibly quick which may have something to do with its makeup or the Hithe's fast metabolism. This healing factor does not extend to tissue regrowth however, and sufficiently damaged Hithe usually go into hibernation or are placed back in a birth pod to recuperate.

Hithe live for an indeterminate amount of time, mostly because they are killed off for various reasons before their natural time. Long living Hithe however can be said to live for over 100 years before succumbing to their violent lifestyle.

Like all species with non-sexual reproduction, disease is deadly to the Hithe. While their immune systems are strong, a possible outbreak that overcomes this will spell an end for a population.

Religion:

The Hithe have no religion, instead having an incredibly blunt and practical look on their existence. They were created for war and pillage and so they shall do that.

History:

The Hithe were created as a warrior servant race by an ancient species that specialised in genetics over 5000 years ago. Apparently the reason was that a neighbouring race that specialised in battlesuits had encroached on their territory and war had broken out.

The Hithe were effectively perfect in their design, routing the invaders and spilling into their territory, driving them out. The enemy was defeated and on the run, while the master race praised their scientists for the work they had done. The Hithe were deployed countless times over the centuries to root out conspirators, upstart races and full blown rebellions.

However once peace came unease set into the master race's minds. The idle Hithe army was growing restless in its pens and there were numerous cases of workplace accidents amongst the staff assigned to it. It was clear that keeping such violent creatures without entertainment would eventually prove their undoing. After much debate an order to euthanise the Hithe was put out, with only a few individuals to be spared for research purposes.

The plan failed spectacularly. Once the warriors had caught wind of what was going on, they rebelled. However despite their ferocity their masters were the ones that created them, and so knew their weaknesses. Eventually their tactics ground the Hithe to a stop and the warriors were rounded up and dumped on Gorrleth, where they were left until a method in which they could be properly controlled was found.

More years passed before the abandoned Hithe began again to grow bored and infighting sprung up all over the surface of Gorrleth. Alliances, warlords and fortresses rose and fell as pod brother turned on pod brother over petty differences. Eventually surface materials weren't enough for the ramshackle buildings and swords that needed to be repaired nearly every day, driving territories closer together in the search for metal. Very soon, the Hithe started to dig.

Gorrleth was immediately discovered to be far more valuable to their new residents than ever before. Their masters had apparently used the world as their personal tip, the shifting sands covering vast outdated ships, repair drones and weaponry. Like most of the great races creations, the biological components of each machine were hibernating, just waiting to reawaken and serve their new masters.

Again, fighting broke out over who would command the ships. Eventually they were divided up between the remaining warlords and many Hithe took to the stars, intent on either finding their masters (for reasons good or bad) or at least to punch something along the way and get some sweet loot.

Eventually one fleet found the Xenoqqi homeworld of T'Saala. That didn't work out so well.

Culture:

Hithe culture revolves around violence. Currency and value changes depending on how strong a Hithe is or how many he's killed compared to the seller. A fresh newbie Hithe has to cough up a small fortune for a mug of grog while a larger well known individual might even get it for free.

Coinage itself takes multiple forms. The most common is small, interesting objects such as:

Gold pieces and alien money

Oddly patterned rocks

Ammunition

Bones and teeth (typically low value)

Individuals wear little clothing, most of it simply being for show and vaguely as protection, as Hithe don't get cold easily and have nothing to hide out of modesty. As such, Hithe attire is typically a bunch of leather and cloth straps of which various spikes, weapons and ammos is attached.

Hithe culture does have some kind of hierarchy, as messy as it is:

Freshie - A newly born Hithe that can be picked out by their glossy hide fresh from the pods. They have low status and are generally pushed around a lot by those more powerful than they are. Bar fights usually involve a thrown freshie or two.

Wildling - A freshie who's original base part was not placed in a pod, instead being from a recent battlefield. They are typically less incomplete than regular freshies thanks to their natural growth, having fed off the strewn corpses while buried. Compared to regular Hithe they are usually darker in colouration and more blotchy.

Midget - A dwarf Hithe. Lower in status than even a freshie, Midgets are vicious blighters that have to fight for every scrap. Sometimes they get adopted by larger Hithe and therefore live in marginally better conditions.

Warrior - A regular Hithe. They have a kill count and their egos have grown with it, some thinking they're better than their peers (this leads to more fighting).

[]Bigwig -[/b] A Hithe big and strong enough to lord over his fellows, but not enough that he can take over the population. A "smart" Hithe leader will kill off any bigwigs that he deems too threatening, usually in single combat.

Warlord - The leaders of Hithe populations. Warlords are typically wildlings and seem to be slightly more cunning than an average Hithe, although some reach the top with just muscle.

The Hithe do not have names but are instead referred by number depending on the order they were born from the pods. Numbers are purely subjective between fleets and even ships and so multiple Hithe can be given the same number. This system is so messed up and complex that sometimes they just lose count and start over again. There are at least 1000 individuals named "1", either legitimately or renamed out of egotistical pride.

Hithe cities and towns are held within the central chambers of their ships, typically covering the floor, walls and ceiling. The buildings themselves are crude, typically small shacks made of stone and metal stuck together with resin and rope. Stalls and bars are common, trading weaponry, oddities and alcohol for the appropriate cost (which as said before, fluctuates with each buyer). The centrepiece of each area is typically an arena, where more official disputes take place as well as gladiator matches between prisoners and captured beasts.

Hithe generally fit under four employment options:

Be part of a large raiding fleet

Be part of a smaller pirate fleet.

Stay on a planet and get bored after you kill everything worth fighting or get killed yourself.

Hire yourself out for mercenary/bounty hunter work.

Military:

Creatures - - Gorrleth's deserts crawled with outcast genetic experiments left to fend for themselves. After many failed attempts the Hithe have managed to domesticate some of them.

Crawler - a massive millipede-like creature used as a siege engine. Its heavy stone-like shell overlaps its body as a skirt, allowing Hithe to hide underneath and be protected from incoming fire. Hithe sometimes hang off the side and fire their guns in the air to make it move faster.

Bristleback - A wolf-like creature with a short, ugly face and a powerful frame. Used as bloodhounds and mounts by many Hithe.

Screamer - A great flying ray that flits through the air on organic jet engines. Some have reportedly grown large enough that small forts are strapped to their backs.

Firearms - - Hithe weaponry either comes from their old masters, as the spoils of war or payment for mercenary work. Either way these guns have extra metal plating tacked on to make them more robust and also serve as bludgeoning weapons.

Creator weapons are grown and harvested from pods. Denoted by their stony exterior and organic tubing, these weapons fire acid-coated shards of stone typically with low accuracy and high rate of fire. Comes in pistol, rifle, shotgun, sniper/railgun and mortar forms. They are unreloadable, but make a great snack afterwards.

With this access to so many forms of firearm, an individual can typically be seen with literally anything he has got his hands on (and fought everyone else off of).

Ships - - Like most of their master's work, the great vessels that the Hithe travel in are organic and encased in a stony exoskeleton. These great space beasts crawl with repair critters to keep them running, something the Hithe have no idea what to do. What the Hithe have done however is rivet large metal beaten panels onto the exterior, creating ghastly parodies of their own faces on the prows.

Typically Hithe spacecraft are naturally agile and quick thanks to their organic nature. In addition they carry biological versions of more conventional components: Engines run off biofuel that is created in the massive gut tract after nutrients are extracted, while a large energy discharge from specialised stone plates acts as rudimentary shielding. These vessels also contain odd inbuilt weaponry that performs similarly to what other starships have.

Unfortunately these ships are not perfect for space travel. Each must eventually make planetfall to extract liquids and gases in place of refueling. The nutrients required are met by the steady supply of corpses a Hithe population accumulates.

Fleets are typically comprised of multiple cruisers backed up by smaller escorts and the occasional destroyer. Destroyers deviate from the usual sleek, fishy design with their odd boomerang-like headbridge.

Inside, the ships harbour many clutches of living fighter craft. Similar in design but far smaller, these fighters are very agile and fast but must return often to the mothership to recuperate. Hithe pilots control these with twin joystick like appendages inside the clamlike cockpit.

Air carriers resemble large bloated fish with several sensory spines jutting out from the side. They have a tongue-like ramp that unfurls from the ribcage hatch at the back. The controls resemble what can only be described as "a pool of gunk and unthinkable squishy things".

Government:

Hithe firmly believe that might is right. Warlords are made when they overturn the old one through force or gain enough followers to split off from their original population. A Warlord typically has a retinue of "cunning" and loyal followers that he trusts, usually numbering between 3 and 5. Underneath them is typically a string of underlings, each one less strong and loud as the one prior.

Strategies/Tactics:

While dumb enough to fall for the "behind you!" trick, the Hithe do have some natural cunning. It is common for individual Hithe to play dead after being shot, kamikaze their fighters or even set elaborate ambushes. However in the heat of battle the Hithe are more likely to charge screaming into the enemy lines with little thought.